Hunger Target Of Spokes-people

Tour De Yeh`s Student Cyclists Heading Across U.s.

June 18, 1990|By Stephanie Simon.

Sunburned and sweaty, 15-year-old Peter Papavisiliou of Skokie paused to evaluate the first two weeks of his summer vacation.

There was the day in Pennsylvania when he felt as though he were riding his bike in the shower-72 miles in a downpour. And the 94-mile ride through Ohio`s Appalachian foothills, much of it uphill. And the night in Maryland when his muscles ached so much that he had to rest for an hour before he could fall asleep.

``I feel great,`` Papavisiliou concluded, 12 days and 876 miles into the Tour de YEH, a cross-country bike trek organized by Youth Ending Hunger.

``This whole trip`s an adventure.``

More than 70 students, ages 13 to 21, are participating in the 3,000-mile Tour de YEH, which began in Washington, stopped at the University of Chicago campus Sunday night, and will finish in Seattle on July 21.

Through pledges and fundraising, Tour de YEH will generate $150,000 to fight hunger, said coordinator Isabell Leshko, 19. But the main goal is to build support for the World Summit for Children, a United Nations conference in September, she said.

``It`s not an issue people expect students to take a stand on,`` said Gretchen Green, 16, of Naperville. ``Everyone stereotypes teenagers, but we`re all here for the same purpose: ending hunger.``

The trip drew students and adult chaperones from 10 nations. Throughout the 50-day trip, the riders will discuss world hunger and the summit with community groups.

``One of the reasons we`re here is to make ending hunger a global priority, to put it on the agenda of world leaders,`` said Phil Higgs of New Mexico.

As they relaxed Sunday night, the riders discussed world hunger and then turned to their immediate needs: showers, sleep and plans for a day off Monday in Chicago. Between bites of ice cream sandwiches, they compared their biking experiences and traded vocabulary they had learned from the foreign riders.

``It`s great to wake up and see that on your left is an Indian and on your right is a Soviet,`` said 20-year-old Bill Fife of New York. ``It`s like singing `It`s a Small World` in your bedroom.``

Although they are biking to educate others, the foreign riders have seized the opportunity to learn about the United States.

``I thought I was seeing all of America when I flew over here,`` said Cyril Francis, 20, of Malaysia. ``Then my friend told me it was only Los Angeles.``

YEH is the student branch of the Hunger Project, an international non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating world hunger by the end of the century.